Fabulous & Carefree Perennials for English Cottage Gardens

"To say those who garden are passionate about their hobby is an understatement.  Those who garden live and breathe horticulture, always seeking to improve their plantings and create beauty around each corner."
~Jane Goodger

While formal gardens are all about order and well-defined spaces, English Cottage Gardens bubble in cheerful tangles of flowers that form a kaleidoscope of hue and texture.  To create an English Garden go big on color, but light on labor with this classic, informal garden style, using these plants:

For SUN:

False Sunflowers
Sun-Loving, easy to grow, hardy, heat and drought-tolerant,  False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) with its brilliant yellow daisy-like flowers add cheery color to a garden bed or border. 

https://www.gardenia.net/plant-variety/heliopsis-helianthoides-false-sunflower

Salvia - Vibrant Blue or Pink Flower Spikes

This plant will rev your garden with big, electrified vibrant blue or pink flower spikes above a dense mound of lush foliage.  Extras include its appeal to butterflies and hummingbirds. 

https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/SAMM.html

Yarrow

Drought-tolerant common yarrow (Achillea) grows well in poor soil, making it an ideal plant for xeriscaping, especially if you live in a desert environment.  Yarrow is most often sold as a potted plant but can be easily grown from seed and doesn't need much attention once established. 

https://www.almanac.com/plant/yarrow

Echinacea
An adaptable, easy-to-grow wildflower for your garden.  Grows in a variety of soil types and moistures but is intolerant to long, dry periods and might begin to droop.  The stunning blooms are long-lasting throughout the summer.  Highly attractive to the Monarch butterfly and large seed heads attract small birds later in the season.

https://onplants.ca/product/echinacea-purpurea/

Shasta Daisies

Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) are an old-fashioned favorite for planting in a cutting garden, along a fencerow, or in a half-wild, meadow-inspired cottage garden.  They will not attract the deer wandering through but will draw in butterflies when bursting with blooms in spring and summer.  Shasta daisies are tough and tolerant but prefer well-drained soil and require full sun (at least six hours).

https://www.southernliving.com/garden/flowers/daisy-flower-plant

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SHADE / HALF-SHADE

Siberian Iris

Like all irises, Siberians (Iris sibirica) have strappy, sword-like foliage, but the leaves of Siberian iris remain quite attractive long after the flowers have faded, offering a texture similar to that of ornamental grass.  Siberian irises are also somewhat more cold-hardy than most bearded iris.

https://www.thespruce.com/growing-siberian-iris-5089592

Japanese Anemones 

Japanese Anemones (Anemone hupehensis) do best in semi-shade, in rich soil with lots of organic matter dug in to improve their structure.  They’re very easy to care for – simply cut the old flower stems back to the base in autumn to keep the plants looking tidy, and remove any tatty-looking old leaves in spring once new leaves start to appear.  They don’t like being dug up and transplanted, and also don’t respond well to being divided, so if you want to propagate them the best way is by taking root cuttings in spring.  Ironically, given that Japanese anemones can be difficult to establish and don’t like disruption, once they are settled in.

https://www.radwaybridgegardencentre.com/news/902/garden-plant-of-the-moment-anemone

Astilbe 

Astilbe (Astilbe spp and hybrids) varieties are hardy. Plant in spring to early fall in a part sun or part shade location spaced 1 to 3 feet apart depending on the variety. Astilbe plants can take more sun but need more shade in warmer locations. Astilbe will grow in a full-shade location, but may not flower well. An East-facing location with morning sun is usually best. Astilbe grows well in moist, fertile soil with a slightly acidic pH. Keep plants well-watered and mulched with a layer of bark mulch. Replenish the mulch each spring and fertilize in spring with compost spread around the plant roots.

https://gardenerspath.com/plants/flowers/best-astilbe-varieties/

Lady's Mantle

Absolutely enchanting after the morning dew, the fuzzy leaves of Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) catch the tiny water droplets which glimmer like tiny crystals. The foliage is a soft grey-green and nearly round with deep lobes, giving them a scalloped look.  From late spring to early summer, masses of finely textured, star-shaped, yellow-green flowers are held in small clusters above the foliage. They work well as a filler in cut flower bouquets or can be dried for fall and winter arrangements.

https://www.greatgardenplants.com/products/ladys-mantle?variant=37358152581287

This is just a small list of flowering plants for an English Cottage Garden.  Here are more that I can suggest, such as Shrub Roses,  Lupins,  Delphiniums,  Lavender,  Poppy,  Hollyhock,  Peonies, Snapdragon,  Foxglove,  Bee Balm,  Loosestrife,  Hydrangeas,  Sage,  Flox,  Goatsbeard,  Spiderwort,  Castor Plants,  Salvias, etc.

Planting and Design Tips:

• Plant in clumps. Avoid individual plants, group your flowers and plants in clumps.
• Mix flower typs. Never have a single flower species in a flower bed, so, mix them all up.
• Mix colors! You can mix all colors. Make sure you choose a wide range of colors too.
• Flowers are the real protagonist. You can have trees and shrubs etc. but you will need lots of flowers in English cottage gardens! They are the real heart of a cottage garden.
• Get rid of large lawn areas. Install more flower beds and have lawns only for footpaths - if at all.

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Dividing Iris Plants

In early summer, I drove from nursery to nursery to buy a certain color of bearded irises. But no luck! I assumed that I was too late - until one of the staff explained the real reason: the Iris Borer which had wiped out a huge part of the crop in many nurseries and the plant wholesale. 

It is a pest that carries bacterial soft rot into tubers, triggering infection with a strong unpleasant odor.  So, I decided to divide the Irises I had on hand. I hadn't done it for a couple of years.  Bearded irises and Siberian irises need to be divided periodically - every three to five years - to maintain a good flower production.

Dividing Iris Plants
Bearded irises are best divided in late summer, about six weeks after blossoming ceases, while Siberian irises need to be divided in spring just when the first small shoots show up.  First remove the upper half of all leaves, using pruners to cut through the thick foliage.  This reduces moisture stress.  Lift the clump, discard older rhizomes and discard tubers that are damaged, hollow or mushy.  Use a garden hose to spray soil debris off all the rhizomes and their roots.  Examine the rhizomes carefully for holes and signs of decay.  Replant the younger tubers 30 centimeters apart, to obtain vigorous stalks and flowers next season.

Don't Plant Too Deep!
Dig a hole for each transplant about 12 centimeters deep, with a mound of soil in the centre.  Compost, composted manure, and peat moss can be added to the soil if it needs renewing. Set the rhizome on the mound and allow its roots to hang down the sides. Fill in with soil, covering the roots entirely and halfway up the sides of the rhizome, leaving its top surface exposed. Covering over the top with more than two centimeters of soil would cause it to rot. Water the transplants in and keep the soil moist while they establish new roots.

See a short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkaO-mplU6M

How to Divide Siberian Irises
Siberian irises will cease flowering when they need to be divided, every three or four years. Clumps also grow from the center outward and give way to a "bald" center.

Siberian irises have thick, strong roots; you may need garden forks and elbow grease to separate the clumps.  Early spring is the best time to divide Siberian irises, just as the new foliage is pushing up through the soil. 

Lever the clump carefully with a garden spade, sliding the spade under the roots and lifting upward.  With your hands, try to separate the clump into sections along natural lines of division.  If the mass of rhizomes and roots is too strong to pull apart, use two garden forks inserted back to back in the center and lever it apart.

It is also possible to cut it in half with a blunt-nosed spade. Separate the clump into two or more sections, replant the sections 45 to 60 centimeters apart at the same level they were growing, then water them into their new hole.

Happy Gardening!

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